November 2006

We recently had a short discussion with Univision. They gave us an interesting company information, and we're happy to share it with you here in OLED-Info.

About Univision Technology

Univision Technology, founded at the Hsin-Chu Science based industrial park in July, 2000, is a company focused on the research and development, design, manufacturing and sale of PMOLED displays.

The product line includes full color, multicolor, and monochrome displays which can be used in the main and sub-panel of mobile phone, MP3 player, blue tooth earphone, game, digital camera, car audio, and other industrial applications.

The Optimus 103 keyboard, which will not feature OLED displays after all (And will have black-and-white LCDs instead) gets a high tag price - 1,200$ when it is realesed in May 2007. It'll be interesting to see if there are any takers at that high numbers. They did promise a price drop in September 2007, to below a thousand.

Read more here (Engadget) 

DisplaySearch revealed in its latest report that OLED shipments grew to 21.2 million and revenues hit $132.5 million in Q3'06.

OLED shipments increased 33% Q/Q due to a 57% increase in sub-displays and a 46% growth in mobile phone main displays. PMOLEDs continue to dominate the market with a revenue share of over 98%. There are now thirteen small molecule and two P-OLED producers with small molecule having a 99% revenue share. Samsung SDI regained the #1 position in units and revenue in Q3'06 with 5.1M displays and $32.6M in revenue. LGE was #2 in revenue and #3 in shipments, while RiTdisplay was #3 in revenue and #2 in shipments. Pioneer was #4 and Univision was #5 in units and revenue.

According to digitimes, CMO has invested US$21.4 million in CMEL and now has has full control of CMEL. To reduce losses, CMEL sent a part of its workforce to CMO, the reported said. Nevertheless, CMO will keep investing in CMEL and help the subsidiary in developing new OLED products.

CMEL has AMOLED products with LTPS TFT technology - They showed 2.0 and 3.5 inch products at FPD 2006 in Japan this year, and expects to have these products in mass production in the first quarter of next year, according to the company. In addition, they have showed a 25" OLED TV prototype in that event.

Read more here (digiTimes)

Check out this video of the iRiver S10 MP3 player. The S10 has a 1.5" color PMOLED display offering 128x96 resolution:

Digitimes has an interesting five part interview with Paul Hyland, President and CEO of Aixtron, and Dr. William (Bill) Elder, Executive Vice President at Aixtron.

From the interview -

I think the potential we’re talking about for OLED technology is still very valid...the incumbent technology getting progressively better and better and pushing new technology further out. But it will come.

The industry is still coming to terms with the chemistry of OLED and therefore the process, which means mastering the yield, the throughput, the lifetime. These are all factors that have to be addressed before OLED technology will enter the commercial market, and if the chemistry changes, then the process and the equipment have to be adjusted accordingly. I don’t think it’s open for me. I’m quite certain that OLED technology will be a player. For me, it’s a question of the timing.

Has there been any development in the last 12 months? Well, we’ve continued to work with our partners, both in terms of government and European funded programs, and commercial customers such as RitDisplay. That activity is continuing. If there is a development, then it would probably be increased interest and focus on OLED as a lighting source.

Read more here 

Ron Mertens from OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Ian Underwood, Strategic Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of MicroEmissive Display (MED). Ian is also the co-inventor of its PLED (also called P-OLED) microdisplay technology. Prior to 1999 he was at The University of Edinburgh where he carried out pioneering research and development in the field of liquid crystal microdisplays between 1983 and 1999. Ian has recently co-authored a book about microdisplays.

MicroEmissive Displays (MED) was founded in 1999 with the aim of developing and commercialising a new microdisplay technology using PLED materials. MED is a public company listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. In september 2006 MED has announced that it has raised over $9 million, and has revealed its plans for a volume manufacturing facility for its polymer light emitting diode (PLED) microdisplay products.

Kolon will invest US$100 million to acquire an 80 percent stake in Ritdisplay, which will be turned into a new company by next April. Kolon Industries is a South Korean company, set up in 1957 and is involved in fiber, industrial materials and bioengineering.

Ritek currently holds over 70 percent of Ritdisplay's shares and will reduce its holdings to 20 percent.

Read more here 

Samsung SDI would initially turn out 1.5 million unit AM-OLED screens per month, a rate that will be ramped up later depending on market reaction.

"If everything goes as planned, the capacity will more than double by the end of next year," said Lee, showing an AM-OLED screen on his personal mobile phone.

Secure Card Technologies announced the SecureCard. Built on a two-factor merchant transaction verification process, the SecureCard is designed to eliminate credit card fraud.

Using an authentication and authorization platform, SecureCard utilizes an additional layer of security that displays a random authentication number on the computer chip-embedded credit card powered by a new battery technology and an OLED screen.